Hi Wayne. Sorry we can't satisfy your patriotism! But go into a store and have a look at DeWalt - I am really impressed by the quality of the one I have. It has an aluminium body, not plastic, and gives the appearance of being built "like a brick outhouse". Of course I have only had it for a couple of years now and I don't know if it will last 35 years. But then you gain features as well when you get a new one.

Many thanks for the responses but I have no luck as yet. ALL of the manufacturers mentioned including DeWalt, Milwaukee, Ryobi etc told me by e-mail they manufacture their products in China. Milwaukee only manufactures their large drills (1/2" and bigger) in the USA. DeWalt assembles "some models" of cordless drills in the USA "using global components" which means Chinese parts.

What precipitated this adventure is my 35-year old Black and Decker, which is still working perfectly but the trigger switch fell apart. And of course spare parts for those are now extinct.

I'd pay happily for a nice German or Swiss made electric drill but if such exists it probably wouldn't work on the voltage here in the US. Even the Bosch products I see in the store are made in the far east.

Sigh. So few manufacturers care about quality any more, it is all about high volumes for the cheapest price. Show me any current product that will last 35+ years like my old B&D and you can have my first born child.

@Wayne....I'm now at work and checked my DeWalt drill (which is a couple of years old now). The Drill itself is made in Mexico. The battery pack is assembled in Taiwan with cells made in Japan. The charger says it's assembled in Thailand. So there you have it.... The case does not say where it is made, but maybe they put all the parts into the case in the USA :-) I will say though that it is a very powerful and sturdy drill with most of the features I want.

A friend I talked to said he thinks Milwaukee tools are still made in the States but cannot confirm it, I will keep trying there.

Interesting collection David. I also have many of the gadgets you've shown.

My immediate problem is to find a new electric drill which is NOT made in China. I have queried many suppliers and manufacturers looking for such and have come up empty. All of the quality and well-known Japanese brands are made in China, and even Bosch is made in Malaysia.

Help from readers? Does anyone know of a brand guaranteed to be US or European/Scandanavian made?

I have several REALLY LONG drill bits specifically designed for running cables through walls etc. Diameter ranges from 3/8 to 1 inch, with length about 60 inches. Shanks are designed to have some flexibility and also have holes for pulling a string through after completing the hole. I use this with (and store with) a set of fiberglass flex rods that screw together to make one 30 feet long. Great for pulling cables through wiring chases, over suspended ceilings, etc. I've used these to run both Cat5/6 and coax in several houses (and my office, until management insisted that we had to use licensed electricians for this). PS: I run a LOOP of string the entire length of the vertical or horizontal run, and use {like pulleys over nails at each end) so I can access the same locations repeatedly to run wires.

I have a variation on the stepped drill bits you show. They are called cone-cuts and they are exactly that- cones wtihout the steps that you have. It seems to me that the original manufacturer doesn't exist any more, but Here is a similar part or the ones in the middle here.

I actually have two for different hole sizes. The porblem as you might guess is actually drilling out the right diameter. I did see a suggestion of using a washer of the right size (or slightly smaller) fitted over the bit to help stop at the right point.